A new exhibition that invites visitors to find a hidden forgery among real masterpieces

Art aficionados and cultural detectives will be put the test, come February, as a new installation at Dulwich Picture Gallery called – Made In China – will see an original masterpiece swapped for a replica, and visitors will be asked if they can spot the forgery...

For those who think they have a keen eye for authentic art, American artist Doug Fishbone is launching his clever new project titled Made In China. The London based artist will be hiding a forged painting, commissioned to Xiamen company in China who specialise in oil painting replicas, among the surrounding masterpieces in Dulwich Picture Gallery, South London.

The Dulwich Picture Gallery is home to some great works by famous masters such as Rubens, Titian, and Gainsborough, to name a few. Between February 3 and July 26 one of these originals will be swapped out with the imitation painting (that was made in China) and visitors to the gallery will be ask whether they can identify it.

"This is a quiet project, but it raises all sorts of broader questions: how do we interact with culture in our institutions; what does the exhibition context bestow on an object?" said Fishbone when speaking to Artnet News. "I'm hoping that it will encourage people to look with much greater focus and with a heightened sense of awareness at the actual artworks. When you walk into a collection with a large amount of paintings, it's very easy to gloss over everything quickly and to take it all in as a kind of vista."